Child Hearing Services

Child Hearing Services (CHS) provides treatment for hearing-impaired infants, toddlers,
preschoolers, and school-aged children and their families. Special emphasis is placed
on early intervention and family
education/counseling. The comprehensive program incorporates audiological services,
communication evaluations, and aural rehabilitation services. The objectives of
this program are to develop spoken language
skills through listening and for each child to have speech/language, social
and academic skills commensurate with their peers.

Currently there are 4 professionals (one with dual certification in audiology and
speech pathology, and three speech-language pathologists) providing services in CHS.
Our philosophy is
predominately Auditory-Oral, however, depending on the needs of the children
and the choices of their families, an Auditory Verbal model is also offered. Ninety-
five percent of the children enrolled in
weekly treatment are successful aural-oral communicators. For the families
choosing a Total Communication philosophy, the use of Signed English is also an
option in treatment.

Currently, CHS provides services for 65-75 children on a weekly basis with over half
of those enrolled utilizing one or two cochlear implants. The children range in
age from Birth to 21 years of age with most children being between
Birth-10 years of age.

CHS offers group and/or individual treatment. We encourage participation in a mainstream
setting in addition to services provided at our Center. The CHS staff provides collaborative
professional trainings
and in-services to teachers and other professionals involved with the children
in the mainstream.

Velvet Buehler is an Authorized Trainer for the Network of Educators of Children
with Cochlear Implants (NECCI). The CHS staff serves on two area cochlear implant
teams and we provide the pre- and
post-cochlear implant evaluations, mapping/programming of cochlear implants, and
post cochlear implant treatment. The CHS staff collaborates with the following cochlear
implant surgeons in Knoxville:

Our program also serves as a practicum site for graduate students obtaining the
Doctorate of Audiology (AuD) and the Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology.
The graduate students may elect to
apply for an Aural Rehabilitation Concentration Certificate which requires completing
two extra courses related to aural rehabilitation and obtaining over 130 clock hours
of practicum experiences in Child Hearing Services. The students selected for
the Concentration obtain extensive experiences providing services to children with
hearing-impairment and their families.
This Concentration will enable the students to pursue employment in various
settings in the areas of aural rehabilitation/cochlear implants and to pursue Auditory
Verbal Certification in the future,
if so desired.